Volunteer Effort Earns Big Thanks for Veteran

posted on December 4, 2013

By Tom Keller

“What the heck could these two big wheels want with me?” wondered Vietnam veteran Bobby Gross when he spotted DAV’s top two national leaders coming directly his way at one of the organization’s recent events.

Gross is a humble guy and couldn’t think of what on earth DAV National Commander Joseph W. Johnston and National Senior Vice Commander Ron F. Hope could have to say to him. Typical to his style, it did not occur to Gross that he was about to be thanked for his truly incredible record of volunteer service to fellow veterans.

How great was his service record? Let’s count the ways, in hours and miles.

Gross, a Vietnam Era veteran, has given 14,420 hours of his time to veterans recovering at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center Wade Park Campus, not too far from his home in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. As a volunteer driver in the DAV Transportation Network, he has logged an astounding 394,765 miles, helping 11,591 veterans get to the medical appointments they needed but otherwise could not get to on their own. Those miles have filled an additional 24,210 hours of Gross’s volunteer time.

“Bobby has set a gold standard of service to his fellow veterans,” Commander Johnston said. “This is just an amazing record, indicative of the kind of dedication and heart DAV and Auxiliary volunteers demonstrate time and again.”